South Burlington author's haunted tale of terror

Nov. 14, 2013

Kristel Smart of South Burlington has just released 'In Stone' based on a true haunted house horror story out of Hinesburg, Vermont. Photo taken at Good Times Cafe in Hinesburg on Nov. 12. / LYNN MONTY/Free Press

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Free Press Staff Writer

Kristel Smart of South Burlington has just released 'In Stone' based on a true haunted house horror story out of Hinesburg, Vermont. / LYNN MONTY/Free Press

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Foundation stones repurposed from a deconsecrated Baptist church on what was once called Rhode Island Corners in Hinesburg birthed a private residence that eventually housed tales of terror.

Kristel Smart, 44, of South Burlington lived in that house on Pond Brook Road, but only for about six months.

“I was dealing with something I didn’t know how to handle and I had to get out,” Smart said.

Smart has written an account of that time in her first book, “In Stone,” based on a true story, published by Virgo eBooks of Vergennes.

Smarts daughter, Taylor Baranoba, 21, of South Burlington was only six-years-old at the time. “I don’t remember much,” she said. “I loved the book, which brought a lot back to memory.”

There is no trace of that church. Every bit of it was reused on other properties, Smart said in an interview. “We suspect who the ghosts are,” she said. “They were a mother and son who died of small pox and were buried on the property.”

It took Smart about five years to write the book. “It was plagued with problems from the start,” she said. “I went through three computers. It felt like the house was still cursing me. It was a slog to get through it.”

But she did get through it and for good reason. “I relived the whole thing while I wrote this,” she said. “I was still dealing with a lot of fear, anxiety and psychological stuff, and I thought writing a book about it would be a healing process.”

The house is still there. The original portion of the house was built in the 1800s, but it’s had additions added onto it over the years, Smart said.

Debbie Safran of Starksboro visited Smart at the house only on two occasions while she lived there. “The bees,” Safran said. “There was this beautiful room that I wanted to go into, but there were too many bees.”

Smart spent a long while in denial of the happenings in the house. “It was difficult for me to come to terms with,” she said. “It made no logical sense. It wasn’t a movie. It was our lives.”